


benevolent

by bellemyers



Category: Minecraft diaries - Fandom, aphmau - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, MCD AU, Minecraft Diaries - Aphmau, Poor Life Choices, Roommates, Slow Burn, because Garroth is a silly goose!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22343065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellemyers/pseuds/bellemyers
Summary: "I... I don't have anywhere to stay.""You can stay- with... you can stay with me."A magic staff. A loving brother. A crowded village. A considerate guard. A savior in disguise, and a few missing teacups. When Phoenix Drop's inns and houses are too full of residents for the new visitor, the head guard offers his personal quarters for her to stay inside of. When she's not who she appears to be, a new case has opened- where did the woman with no life, no family, and no memory come from?
Relationships: Aphmau & Garroth Ro'Meave, Aphmau & Laurance Zvahl, Aphmau/Garroth Ro'Meave, Garroth Ro'Meave & Laurance Zvahl, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	benevolent

"Hey, wait, there's someone over there!"

She tried not to shout. She really did. But when you finally find someone else, someone breathing, after crawling through some forsaken forest for hours, you're bound to be a  _ little  _ happy.

The figure that she’d found was barely visible, as they were on the top of the hill above her and quite a distance away. But from what she could make out, the person was attempting to chop down a large tree with a small axe and a mask was covering the lower half of their face. They jumped at her shout, seemingly startled, although she couldn’t make out his expression completely. They quickly found where she was on the forest floor, and looked shocked- as if they’d never seen another human being before. 

So they turned and fled, just before she was about to apologize. 

"Wait! Come here, I need to talk to you!" She picked up her pace and started chasing after them, knocking through bushes, branches, and large groups of lilac flowers. A twig from a smaller tree whipped her face, cutting a wide gash into her cheek. She gasped at the sting, but continued on.

“I'm looking for somewhere to live, if you happen to know any good places I would really appreciate-"

She stopped, staring at the large tree in front of her. She’d climbed the hill that they were on top of, and this appeared to be the birch they were attempting to cut down. The trunk was severely marred, with half of it missing. The top of the tree was barely standing straight, already leaning to the right as she watched. 

"How does someone just  _ leave  _ this behind?" she whispered, running her hand to the chunky marks left by the axe. She closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against what was left of the tree. 

"I'll come back for you. I promise.” With that, she opened her eyes and turned to the direction she saw the person take off into. They were lurking between leaves and bushes, and she started running after them again.

They sprinted the other way, running from her as if running for their life. "Hey!" she yelled after them. “Come here!" They ran up the hill, avoiding talking to her at all costs.

"You just  _ left  _ that tree- you really just left that tree like that?" She wasn't one to typically get offended on nature's part, but this was out of hand. "and you were literally just-"

She came to a stuttering halt. The trees had started to clear and they had run across a village.

The person was being chased by someone new, a guard in striking white armor with gold accents, a full helmet, and a black cross on the front. They climbed up a wooden pathway, the guard's shining sword slicing at the figure until the guard retreated suddenly- and the figure was nowhere to be found. 

"Where'd he go...?" She sounded defeated, even to herself. The guard turned to look at her- at least maybe they did? She couldn't see their eyes behind their mask, or any of their face for that matter. But the guard turned to her and just seemingly stared, stunned. She heard a small gasp from her right and she turned to see a young man, in his late teens or early twenties, wearing armor that was a darker grey with gold accents instead of black, and a small chainmail helmet that only partially covered his face instead of the other guard's full one. 

"H-Hi," she said, awkwardly. The younger guard blinked and shook his head, seeming to get himself out of a trance. The other came over and took up his stance next to the one she was talking to, stiff and seeming like he was trying hard to not show emotion.

"Hello. Who are you, traveler?"

_ Okay, formal. Fun _ . "Uh- my name is Aphmau, and I guess you could call me a traveler..."

"Greetings, milady Aphmau. My name is Sir Garroth, and this is my apprentice, Zenix." The younger guard bowed his head in recognition, mumbling something along the lines of "pleasure to meet you."

"Hello, Sir Garroth and Zenix. I uh... I don't have anywhere to stay right now, so can I... perhaps... bunk in an inn somewhere here or...?"

"I'm afraid not," Zenix answered. "We're not currently accepting visitors anyway."

"Zenix," Sir Garroth replied under his breath. "Don't be rude." Zenix glared and huffed, turning away. She could feel Sir Garroth tense up and start to call the younger one down, but she interrupted him. 

“What do you mean, you’re not accepting visitors? Is something wrong?”

Sir Garroth quickly spoke over her. “There’s been a few bandits raiding recently, and there’s nothing we can do about it currently with the- the uh— the shortage of guards we have, so we’re not accepting travelers for their own sake.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s true, we are running a bit low on guards, but bandits raiding is not the problem,” Zenix interrupted. 

Sir Garroth quickly looked over at him, moving as if to shush him when Zenix murmured something she couldn’t hear. Sir Garroth retorted, and they mumbled to themselves for a minute, before they turned back towards her, Zenix with a smirk on his face.

The older guard sighed, and slowly spoke, seemingly resigned to talking to her about this. “He is correct- bandits are never a problem around here. But there  _ is  _ a problem.”

“Then what’s the issue?”

“Our lord has been killed.”

She blinked. “Your lord has been killed?”

The knight looked at his apprentice, as if triple-checking it was okay to trust her. Zenix barely nodded, and Sir Garroth turned back towards her. He seemed nervous to be telling her this. 

“...yes. He was murdered not too long ago, with no son old enough to take over, and no wife to be the temporary lord. He’s just gone, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” He seemed dejected, like he’s long resigned the fact that his village was falling apart and he couldn’t do anything. 

“I... I’m so sorry, Sir.” 

“But it’s nothing you can fix. We’ll just have to find a new lord.”

“A new lord?” she whispered, turning away in thought.

“Our last one was terrible anyway.”

She turned, shocked. Sir Garroth was visibly angry, and he was looking straight at Zenix, who just shrugged at the both of them and walked off. 

“I hope you have a pleasant stay, Miss Aphmau. See Emmalyn in town- she can find you a place to rest in during your time here.” He seemed to be speaking through gritted teeth, and the guard marched off after Zenix.

She could faintly hear them talking- well, it mostly Sir Garroth, lecturing Zenix about not telling people who have no business in their town affairs _ all of the town affairs _ .She could understand his frustration- it was valid, she probably knew more than she needed to- but it wasn’t really a reason to scold Zenix. The boy couldn’t be older than seventeen and he was bound to make mistakes from time to time. 

She headed off, climbing up the broken and splintered pathways to the seemingly center of the village. A very small well was sitting in the center. The well itself was in working order, but it was made of poorly done cobblestone. Bits and pieces of it had fallen off, and it was cracked in several places. The rope holding the bucket was frayed, and the bucket was rusted from being submerged so many times over the years. Was this well their only source of water?

She took a look around. The surrounding village was like the well- beaten down, falling apart, and poorly made- not even mentioning the fact that there was nearly no one in it. It was an abandoned ghost town— well, judging from the few farmers and a couple of girls that she saw, nearly abandoned. 

She turned and examined the nearest house, trying to decipher the quality of the wood. She moved closer, attempting to get a better look, when she felt the earth underneath her change. She scooted back, and saw a sinkhole where she was standing. A sinkhole- maybe forty feet deep, ten meters for sure. It lead into a cavern, and she couldn’t see much beyond that. 

She took a couple steps back. She has to be careful- she doesn’t know what else could be lying around, waiting to hurt her or someone else. 

But then it hit her.

A cavern. With stone.

They were in the middle of a dense forest. 

She knew the nearest path to the sea. 

She had plenty of food- some seeds, a couple things of bread, and she could always farm. 

You know what? She could make this town work.

She gently knocked on the door. “Miss Emmalyn?”

A high-pitched voice answered her. “Who is it?”

“Uh. I’m a traveler, and-“

The door slammed open and she staggered backwards, surprised at sudden movement. A young girl with blonde, messy hair stood in the doorway, squinting up at her. “A traveler, huh? What brings you to Phoenix Drop?” 

She rubbed the back of her head. “I... uh... I came to Phoenix Drop because... of its... um... location?”

Now that she thought about it, why had she come here?

“Uh-huh.” The girl squinted at her again. “Who are you? Who sent you? Where are you from? Why are you in my doorway? And-“ her face paled. “Oh Irene, where are you going to stay?!” The girl turned around and went inside, making a mild gesture for her to follow. She came inside the small library, hesitant to touch anything, pulling herself closer so she could fit.

“That’s what I came to ask-“

“My other questions first! What’s your name? Is it Jessie? Molly? Alexis? Does it rhyme with Julia- is it related to a food item? Hannah rhymes with banana, is your name Hannah? Mary is close to berry, are you a fruit? Helen, melon, Sam, yam, ham, jam- why, a lot of things rhyme with Sam! Or is your name-“

“Aphmau! My name is Aphmau. It doesn’t rhyme with anything and I’m not a fruit and-“

“Aphmau. How very foreign. I’ve not heard of a name like that around here before- where did you say you were from?”

She sighed. “I didn’t.”

“Oh.” The girl turned around to look at her. “Where are you from, you don’t look to be from Ru’an- maybe you’re Tu’lan? From the island of Enki?”

“Look.” She stepped closer to Emmalyn, practically towering over the much smaller girl. “I just. Need. Somewhere. To. Stay. That’s it. That’s all I ask of you. But I swear, if you don’t give me that one simple thing, I’ll-“ 

“I-I can’t!”

“What do you mean, you can’t?!”

“I genuinely mean that I c-can’t. There’s no room in any of our houses for- no room for you.”

She blinked. “Oh. Well, don’t you have an inn? What about that?” 

“The inn is full of permanent residents, like yourself. There were plans to build a new one, but...”

Of course. The lord had died. “Right. It’s okay. Well, thank you anyway, Emmalyn.”

“W-Wait! Don’t go, I still have so many questions to ask you about- like, the animals near where you live and now that I think about it you never told me where you were from and when you’re going back an-“

She turned around and gently shut the door behind her, ignoring Emmalyn’s squabbles at her departure. 

Well. Time for plan B, then.

  
  
  


She rubbed the sweat from her forehead. It was nearly sunrise, and she’d worked all throughout the night, not taking time to stop and eat or do anything other than build. She hadn’t gotten any sleep since she’d arrived in the small village. She‘d been clearing trees, gathering wood, making torches and mining stone. Everything she could do to help improve the place- and it had left her exhausted.

Emmalyn had informed her that there were no open places for her to stay- the only inn the town had was completely full with permanent residents. There were too few houses and too many people. 

But that was fine. She’d gotten a tent from the small store in town and set it up- mostly so she could store her things, but she could say she had one nonetheless. There was a technically a place for her to sleep in, and that was all that mattered.

She put a plank here, and hammered in a nail in there. Piled some stone to make the well less of a hazard, put down torches to- they weren’t needed anymore, it was suddenly daylight. When did it become day?

As she examined the sky, a sudden burst of tiredness came over her. She closed her eyes.

Just for a second, of course.

Just for a second.

She hazily blinked. 

She could’ve  _ sworn  _ it had been only a second.

She blinked slowly awake. She didn’t want to get up. This bed was so comfortable- soft and plush and fluffy. 

This bed. 

This  _ bed _ .

She bolted upright, very quickly realizing that she did not recognize her surroundings. Everything was basic and plain- all white, no decoration, no color besides the mid-tone wooden walls and floor. The light streaming from the nearby window suggested that sunset was ending, if not already over.

Had she slept through the entire day?

And where on Earth was she!?!

She pulled herself off the bed, her feet landing softly on the wooden floor.

She walked slowly to the door, creaking it open carefully and peering out. It lead into a small living room and kitchen, where someone was washing a dish in the sink of water.

They were wearing white armor, helmet on even though it was night and this was probably their own quarters. 

“H-Hello?” she flinched at the timidness in her voice.

The person turned, startled, and nearly dropped the dish they were washing. She started to apologize, but then noticed that she knew that armor.

Sir Garroth.

He put the dish down carefully and headed towards her, his armor clinking lightly as he walked. She shrank back into her room- when did it become  _ her _ room?- and took a few steps back from her door. 

He stopped his approach once he saw her backing up. 

“Miss-“

“How did I get here?” she interrupted, her voice bold but quiet. “Did you- did you  _ bring _ me here?”

Sir Garroth was slightly taken back. “Miss- no I did not- well, I did- it is complicated. Forget how you got here, are you-“

He moved a couple steps forward. She took a couple back. Sir Garroth sighed and held up his hands. 

“Look. I know this seems creepy, but I promise I did not- and will not- hurt you. This is my house, okay? You slept on my bed. Which-“ he groaned, “makes it sound even  _ creepier _ .”

She found amusement in his frustration, but she had to keep a straight face, or else she might never get the answers she wanted. “And why did I need to sleep on your bed, at your house?”

“I believe you were passed out, along the side of the paths?”

She nodded. 

“Was it you who did it?”

She was confused. “Did what?”

He pointed outside. “The roads. Are you the person who fixed them?”

“... yeah?”

“Why?” He sounded perplexed. “Why did you do that?”

“What do you mean,  _ why? _ I did it because it had to be done and  _ someone _ had to do it, Sir Garroth.”

He flinched and turned away. 

“... Sir Garroth? Is everything alright?”

“Nothing. It is nothing. But- I still do not understand.”

“It was a safety hazard,” she shrugged. “Nothing more. Nothing less.”

He stared at her again, silently this time. 

“Sir Garroth...?” she asked, quietly. “Are you sure everything is alright?”

“I am just... in awe, Miss Aphmau. Barely been inside the village for a day and you’ve already done more to help the people then most I know.” He stood up and walked to her, kneeling in front of her. “I am in your debt.”

She giggled. “There’s no need, Sir Garroth.”

She thought she could hear the smile in his voice when he replied, “Of course there is, Lady Aphmau.” Then she could hear his brow furrow. “Is there truly no where in town in which you can stay?”

She shook her head. “I’ve asked everyone I know- which, granted, is only one person, but she’s the main records keeper of the village, correct?”

Sir Garroth nodded.

“Then I’ve checked with everyone. It’s alright, though. I’ll be okay.”

She hadn’t even finished her sentence when he was already shaking his head in disapproval. “I know someone Emmalyn did  _ not  _ check with.”

“Who?” she asked, excited.

Sir Garroth looked away quickly. “Uh. She didn’t ask… she didn’t ask  _ me _ .”

She blinked. And blinked again. And blinked a third time, just to make sure she heard him correctly. 

“You would… do that? For me?”

“Only if you were okay with it, of course,” Sir Garroth quickly amended, his gestures vaguely panicked. 

She thought about it for a moment. She had nowhere else to stay, and with Sir Garroth by her side, she could learn the hidden in’s and out’s of the village. It would be a reprieve from working herself to the point of exhaustion, and with his helping hand, things could get done a lot faster.

She had no reason to say no.

“Okay.”

She could tell he was startled. “Okay?”

She nodded. “I’ll stay with you.”

The relief in his body was immediately obvious, the way his shoulders slumped and his helm (presumably his head, as well) tilted down. “Okay.”

She smiled brightly. 

There was a brief pause before Sir Garroth spoke again. “So. I guess before you start settling in, I might as well get to know you so you are not a complete stranger in my house.”

She shrugged. “It’s not a terrible idea.”

“Where are you from?”

And that question had frozen the smile on her face, as she felt her happiness quickly fade away.

That was one of the few she did not have answers to.


End file.
